Friday, April 4, 2014

KRASNOYASRK--Siberia's most beautiful city, says Chekhov

9867 km from home

72 degrees and sunny--an absolutely beautiful spring day. Was so
cold in Moscow yesterday, my fingers went numb on a walk. Today in
Siberia, we shed our coats.

The flight was great--that means smooth, quiet (except for the
barking dog behind me) and uneventful, on a brand new Aeroflot Boeing 777.
IREX booked us on the red eye, arriving at 9am local time. My first
impression of Krasnoyarsk was similar to that of Colorado, with a dense and
vast carpet of evergreen pines, spattered in with treeless white birch as far
as the eye could see in all directions. The runway and road to
Krasnoyosk appeared from the air like a narrow ribbon carved out of the trees.Krasnoyosk rests against the Yeneise
River—big and wide like the Missouri, but coming down from Mongolia and
emptying into the ArcticOcean like most
rivers in Russia.Mountains, between the
Appalachians and Rockies in height, are at the horizon.Snow is still seen on the ski slopes, but
melted off by the foothills and lower toward the river and thecity.

Our host, the principal and math teacher at the Lyceum, Ilona, met
us with the sign: Carrie, Emily, Lisa. And what a warm welcome from
her and the rest of the staff, teachers, and of course, children. The
countryside view from the airport to the town, about the size of Omaha,
reminded me of a western slope Colorado town like Durango.

We got our schedules for the week, and a tour--an Excursion,
Russians like to call it--of the entire school. As in Moscow, the
children were so very excited to see us! They stood at attention when we
entered, smiled, and were eager to practice their English. 'Hello', 'Hi',
'Glad to see you' and "Welcome'. We met met at least one teacher from each
grade and high school subject, the counselor, many, many students, and
surprise...the school dentist. This school, perhaps others (?) has a resident
dentist office offering services to the students free of charge. It was a
fully-appointed facility. Interesting concept.

Siberia is a rich area, several high school boys commented to us.
Rich in natural resources. I could not have ordered up a better
presentation than what followed. They narrated their school's rock,
mineral and fossil collection. I can't wait to share it with my 6th and
7th graders studying the online Jason project’s Tectonic Fury unit. If anyone
in that class reads this and emails me back what tectonic plate Siberia is on,
I will have a gift from Russia for you when I return. Thanks to cohort Mary
Sue for the idea.

We spent the late afternoon touring the local Krasnoyarsk museum,
showing historical and scientific collections originating from this area of
Russia. The young teachers serving as our tour guides admitted they did
for us what I also do for my students--go to the museum the day ahead of time
and take notes and research before the day with your audience. Thanks so much!
Highlights included a full skeleton of a wooly mammoth, found nearby and
reconstructed in the Life Science wing. And, inclusion of an exhibit of a
choom. Native Americans on the plains called this structure a tipi
(teepee). Gives even more credence to the theory that Native American are
descended from Asian immigrants walking over the Bering Strait land bridge and
then on south.

Have noticed the air is a bit hazy. It was explained to us
that Siberia is suffering from wild fires, similar to what was
experienced in Colorado last year. Extinguishment has been attempted
with helicopters above, but the fires are not yet contained.

A few more facts about the area:

The area started as a wooden fort, in 1628 by the Cossacks,
to keep out the Tartars. My hometown of Kansas City also started with
Fort Osage, but 180 years later in 1808.

Gold was discovered here in 1895 (close in timing to Alaska's gold
discovery)

The Yenisei river bridge, flowing through town, and its bridge,
are featured on the ten Ruble note. Our hosts gifted each of us with one.
This river starts in Mongolia and empties into the Arctic Ocean.